ACP Group of States

Photo: ACP Secretary General Dr. Patrick Gomes (left) and Tjekero Tweya Minister of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development of the Republic of Namibia and President of the ACP Council of Ministers) (right). Credit: ACP

79-Nation Group’s Head Explains Vital Tasks Ahead Until ACP-EU Accord Expires

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – As talks progress on future relations between 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union in the aftermath of historic Cotonou Agreement due to expire in February 2020, Secretary-General Dr. Patrick Ignatius Gomes has spelt out vital tasks ahead.

The significance of milestones marking the coming six to nine months is underlined by the fact that the future ACP-EU partnership will span more than half of United Nations member countries and over 1.5 billion people, serving to further cement the close political ties between the two groups of countries on the world stage.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 23 May 2019

Photo: (from left to right) Haymadoyal Dillum, Ambassador of Mauritius to Brussels; Nandcoomar Bodha, Minister of Public Infrastructure and Transport and Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade; Viwanou Gnassounou, Assistant Secretary General of the ACP Group, Department of Sustainable Economic Development and Trade and Michal Golabek, Chargé d'affaires, European Union Delegation in Mauritius and Seychelles.

ACP Provides Information on Development of Private Sector

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – The Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, has launched a series of regional meetings aimed at boosting ACP private sector information, developing knowledge sharing and networking.

As an integral activity of the Joint ACP-EU Private Sector Development Framework, these events are being organised with technical support from Business ACP – the ACP Private Sector Development Platform in close concertation with the European Commission.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 23 May 2019

Collage: Ambassador Richard Bernal, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Global Affairs at The UWI (left) and Professor Robert Dussey, the Chief Negotiator ACP-EU Post-Cotonou 2020 by IDN-INPS with photos from public domains.

Lending a Research Hand to CARICOM, Strengthening the ACP

By Desmond Brown

This report is part of a series focusing on the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States working to "modernize" their relations, and in the process giving the ACP Group "a greater presence" at the United Nations. – The Editor.

KINGSTON, Jamaica (IDN) – In the face of a rapidly changing global environment, a top Caribbean diplomat and technocrat strongly suggests the establishment of an independent research institute to supplement and support governments and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) secretariat.

: Desmond L. Brown; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 11 May 2019

ACP-UNCTAD Workshop Targets at Ensuring Inclusiveness and Equality

By Ronald Joshua

GENEVA (IDN) – Well ahead of the High-Level Political Forum in July 2019 under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) with the focus on "empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality", the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Secretariat and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) held an all-day workshop at the Palais des Nations, Geneva on May 2, 2019.

: Ronald Joshua; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 08 May 2019

Photo: A Sherp crosses flooded plains to deliver 26 tons of food to Buzi in Northern Mozambique. Credit: WFP/Adam Marlatt

International Aid Flows to Southern Africa after Two Devastating Cyclones

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE (IDN) – All that she has now is her 12-year old daughter. Her home, and almost all her belongings were destroyed by Cyclone Idai in March. Over a month ago since the tragedy struck, 35-year old Teresa Chizimu who hails from Chikwawa district in Malawi, has sunken deeper and deeper into desperation since she had an encounter with the cyclone.

Not only Chizimu is in this crisis in the southern hemisphere, but also Mozambique’s 71-year old Aderito Abdala from the port city of Beira, is faced with a catastrophic situation, with all his four grandchildren and wife, killed by Cyclone Idai.

: Jeffrey Moyo; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 04 May 2019

Photo: Sir Ronald Sanders, Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the United States and the Organisation of American States. Credit: Embassy of Antigua and Barbuda, Washington, DC.

79-Nation ACP Group Must Guard Against Lack of Unity

By Desmond Brown

This report is part of a series focusing on the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States working to "modernize" their relations. These involve "a greater presence" of the ACP Group at the United Nations. As a minimum, an ACP-EU coordination unit should have a seat at the UN, said a landmark resolution of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly held March 18-20 in Bucharest, the capital of Romania.- The Editor.

ST. JOHN'S, Antigua (IDN) – The prospect of Brexit, the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union, continues to loom large over the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries. If a no-deal Brexit happens in October, this could mean severe consequences for the ACP.

: Desmond L. Brown; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 29 April 2019

Photo (left to right): Neil Paul of Ramphal Center; Sandra Husbands, Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Trade at Government of Barbados; Dr Patrick I Gomes, ACP Secretary-General; Sir Shridath Ramphal, one of the original drafters of the Georgetown Agreement; and Prof. / Ambassador Ibrahim Gambari, Nigeria. Credit: ACP Secretariat.

The Primacy of Institutionalised Unity is Key to the Georgetown Agreement

Viewpoint by Sir Shridath Ramphal

"The truly compelling lesson . . . is how critical it is to pool our resources: political, economic and intellectual in negotiating with countries beyond ourselves: globally, in Europe, in the Hemisphere," says Sir Shridath Ramphal – one of the original drafters of the 1975 Georgetown Agreement that created the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP). The following are extensive excerpts from his Opening Remarks on 26 February 2019, tracing the genesis and the process of unification for the ACP at the Inter-Regional High-Level Consultation in Barbados.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; OPINION; 28 April 2019

Photo (l to r): Jamaica's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kamina Johnson Smith; EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica; and Professor Robert Dussey, the ACP’s Chief Negotiator.

Future EU-Caribbean Relations in New ACP-EU Partnership

By ACP Press

KINGSTON (ACP-IDN) – As the EU is working to modernise its relations with 79 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP), the two groups' chief negotiators Neven Mimica and Robert Dussey met with ACP Caribbean leaders for a dedicated dialogue on the regional EU-Caribbean pillar in the framework of the post Cotonou ACP-EU partnership.

The discussions on April 15, 2019, formed part of broader regional consultations and are focused on the Caribbean’s specific needs and priorities for the coming years. The outcome will guide the negotiators’ work in creating a tailor-made EU-Caribbean partnership within the future ACP-EU agreement.

: Africa & ME Editor; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 24 April 2019

Photo: IDN-INPS collage of pictures by from Commonwealth Secretariat. Left: Aelan Ltd hires local women from the next village to make organic products. Right: Adding value to coconut. Bottom: Vanuatu Deputy Prime Minister Bob Loughman wants the country to focus on value addition and moving up global value chains.

Ensuring the Future of Coconut, the 'Tree of Life'

By Josephine Latu-Sanft

For the eminent American actor and director Dustin Hoffman sunshine and coconut milk are "the two basic items necessary to sustain life". The German playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht compared love to a coconut "which is good while it is fresh". In the Pacific, coconut is king, writes Josephine Latu-Sanft.

LONDON | PORT VILA (IDN) – Known as the ‘tree of life’, locals make use of every part of the tree to survive – the fruit for eating, husks for fuelling fires, fronds for making multiuse baskets, and the trunk for building houses.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 18 April 2019

Photo: PNG Minister Maru presents a gift to ACP Secretary-Genral Dr. Gomes during their bilateral Meeting in N’Djamena, Chad.

The Pacific Reaffirms Commitment to the ACP Group of States

By ACP Press

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – Minister for National Planning and Monitoring of Papua New Guinea, Richard Maru, has assured the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group that Papua New Guinea will continue to play an active role in the affairs of the ACP Group of States.

Minister Maru met the ACP Secretary General, Dr. Patrick Gomes, at the margins of the ACP-EU Ministerial Meeting in N’Djamena, Capital of the Republic of Chad, Central Africa, on April 3 where they discussed, among other things, Papua New Guinea’s role in the current ACP-EU post-Cotonou negotiations.